Gas turbine engines operate by burning a combustible fuel-air mixture, and converting the energy of combustion into a propulsive force. A gas turbine engine typically includes an inlet, a compressor, a combustor, a turbine, and an exhaust duct, where the compressor draws in ambient air and increases its temperature and pressure. Fuel is added to the compressed air in the combustor, where it is burned to raise the gas temperature, thereby imparting energy to the gas stream. The resulting combustion gases are directed axially rearward from the combustor through an annular duct, where the gases interact with multiple turbine stages disposed within the annular duct.
Each turbine stage includes a stationary turbine nozzle derived of multiple stator vanes, and a downstream row of rotatable blades. The stator vanes direct the combustion gases axially rearward in a downstream direction, and the rotatable blades direct the energy of the combustion gases to an axial drive shaft that is interconnected with the compressor. Stator vanes typically have airfoil geometries designated by concave pressure sides and convex suction sides that extend axially between corresponding leading and trailing edges of the airfoils. Each airfoil is also typically disposed circumferentially between an outer arcuate shroud and an inner arcuate platform, thereby forming a nozzle segment. Multiple nozzle segments are interconnected to form the annular ring of the stationary turbine nozzle. Each nozzle segment may be cast to include one or more stator vanes disposed between the same outer arcuate shroud and inner arcuate platform. For example, a nozzle segment containing a single stator vane is typically referred to as a nozzle singlet, a nozzle segment containing two stator vanes is typically referred to as a nozzle doublet, nozzle segment containing three stator vanes is typically referred to as a nozzle triplet, and so on. For ease of description herein, the term “vane cluster” is intended to encompass any nozzle segment having two or more stator vanes. Vane clustering may have several advantages. The reduced engine part count may ease manufacturing and reduce weight. The reduction in the number of platform and shroud gaps (e.g., a halving with nozzle doublets) may have performance advantages. First, intergap leakage may correspondingly be reduced. Second, diversion of cooling air to cool gap seals may also be reduced.
The components of the turbine stages (e.g., vanes and blades) are required to be able to withstand the thermal and oxidation conditions of the high temperature combustion gas during the course of operation. To protect turbine engine components from the extreme conditions, such components are typically coated with metallic bond coats that provide oxidation and/or corrosion resistance, and with ceramic thermal barrier coatings to provide thermal protection. With vane clusters, each airfoil may interfere with the application of the coating to the adjacent airfoil(s), where the vane cluster geometry provides a mask which affects coating distribution on the “hidden” faces of the airfoils that are not positioned on either end of the vane cluster, thereby reducing the amount of coating which is applied to those areas. Such non-uniformity is further exacerbated by the absence of interference to the application of coating on the surfaces at each end of the vane cluster. This is true even when so-called non-line of sight coating application methods, such as electron beam physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD), are used. The hidden areas therefore may not receive adequate coating thickness due to the exposed areas on either end of the vane cluster reaching the coating thickness limit, thereby creating non-uniformity of coating profiles from vane to vane. The varying coating distribution between the two airfoils creates a situation of mismatched thermal gradients and thermal growth.